The Community Water and Sanitation Agency in collaboration with Bill and Millender Gates Foundation (BMGF) have set aside $22,500 prize package to motivate private and non-state actor innovators implement liquid waste management strategies in the country.

They would partner 17 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the implementation of their liquid waste management strategies under the Sanitation Challenge for Ghana (SC4GH) completion. The package deal was announced during a presentation at the National Basic Sanitation Stocktaking Forum in Kumasi on July 10, 2017 under the theme: “Sanitation Financing: Remodeling and forging partnerships for Urban Sanitation Improvement in Ghana.” The Sanitation Lead for IRC Ghana, Mr. Kwame Asiedu Asubonteng said private sector and non-state actor involvement in liquid waste management at the local level was critical and that the essence of the private sector prize was to encourage and promote partnerships and synergy building between the private sector players and the MMDAs to galvanize citizens, media, and innovators for improved liquid waste management. The Private sector prize, which is a competition among Non-state actors working with one or more of the 17 SC4GH MMDAs is aimed rewarding private sector players who are able to use improved products, processes, technologies and new services to the world capable of being up-scaled. Giving an update on the Sanitation Challenge for Ghana, the Communications, Learning and Advocacy Coordinator of IRC Ghana, Mr Abubakar Wumbei said the SC4GH was a competition among MMDAs in Ghana and launched by Government of Ghana (MLGRD) in 2015. He said it is aimed to spur the MMDAs to design and implement liquid waste management strategies for urban areas in the Assemblies. The total prize value of the SC4GH competition is GB£ 1.43 million. He said so far the MMDAs have responded positively to the competition through the promoting and construction of household toilets for the poor, construction of institutional and household toilets to help reduce Open Defecation in their localities. According Mr. Wumbei hygiene education and promotion, review and enforcement of sanitation bye laws and identification of sites for construction of liquid waste treatment and reuse plants were progressing steadily in most of the assemblies visited. Mr. Wumbei further indicated that the SC4GH has brought an enormous impetus to the MMDAs as the Assemblies were now challenged to think outside the box to come out with innovative ideas on ways to raise their own funds to implement their liquid waste management strategies. The SC4GH which is in the second stage (Dignified City Award) would see the winner in the Metropolitan and Municipal Assembly category win a total prize amount of GB£ 400,000 with the winner in the District Assembly Category also winning GB£ 250,000. An additional GB£600,000 would be awarded to deserving MMDAs in other categories.